Power-transmitting mechanism.



PATENTED AUG. 8, 1905.

W. MARSHALL.

POWER TRANSMITTING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 2.1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 gr H No. 796,748. v v' l 'PATBNTED AUGC8,1905.

w. MARSHALL.

POWER TRANSMITTING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 2, 1904.

zSHBETs-SHBET 2 6 Fa'ga'i I I I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 8, 1905.

Application filed July 2, 1904. Serial No. 215,186.

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, VVALLAoE MARSHALL, of Lafayette, county of Tippecanoe, and State of Indiana, have. invented a certain new and useful Power-Transmitting Mechanism; and I do w hereby declare that the following is a full,

clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which like numerals refer to like parts.

The object of this invention is to provide an improved power-transmitting mechanism wherein the speed may be readily modified and regulated and in both the forward and backward movement.

The chief novel feature consists in placing a number of wheels, to or from which power is transmitted, upon a single shaft and having individual means for clutching each wheel into operative engagement with the shaft and means for controlling said individual clutching means or placing the same singly in their clutching position. More specifically, said novel feature consists of a ball between the hub of eachwheel and the shaft that when moved out-ward into engagement with the wheel clutches it with the shaft and when not moved outward the wheel runs idle and a key or the like movable longitudinally of the shaft for moving any one of said balls into clutching engagement with its corresponding wheel.

Another novel feature consists in providing said construction above mentioned in connection with both the driving and the driven shaft and having a single means for moving the corresponding clutching means on the two shafts simultaneously into engagement with their corresponding power-transmitting wheels.

The foregoing and the other features of the invention will be understood from the accompanying drawings and the following description and claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of the device with parts broken away, as therein indicated. Fig. 2 is an elevation of the right-hand end of Fig. 1, the lower part of the hand-lever being broken away. Fig. 3 is a central vertical section of the lower left-hand portion ,of Fig. 1 through the two shafts therein shown, parts being broken away, as shown. Fig. 4 is a central longitudinal section of a portion of the mechanism, showing the hub of one wheel on the line 4 4 of Fig. 5. In this figure the ball is shown in a clutching position. Fig. 5 is a transverse section on the line 5 5 of Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a transverse section on the line 6 6 of Fig. 3, but on a much smaller scale. Fig. 7 is a section on the line 7 7 of Fig. 3.

Referring now to the details of the drawings shown herein for the purpose of explaining the general nature of my invention and of illustrating one way of carrying out the same, 10 is a timber to which the device is attached or suspended. A hanger-frame 11 is secured to the under side of said timber, and it carries a rectangular casing 12, through which two shafts 13 and 14 extend and in which said shafts are mounted and operate. Said shafts are parallel and similar. For convenience the shaft 13 may be termed the driving-shaft, to which power is transmitted through the pulley 15, and the shaft 14 may be called the driven shaft, from which power is transmitted through the pulley 16.

Upon the shaft 14 there is mounteda series of gears 17 increasing in diameter from left to right, that mesh with a series of corresponding gears 18 on the driving-shaft 13, that decrease in diameter from left to right. As here shown, there are five pairs of these gears that are always in mesh, and each pair is independent of every other pair, and each pair will drive the driven shaft at a different rate of speed from the speed resulting from every other pair of gears. These gears 17 and 18 will transmit power to the driven shaft, so as to turn it in one direction. For the purpose of driving the driven shaft in the opposite direction at variable speeds l mount on the shaft 13 a series of sprocketwheels 20, increasing in diameter from left to right, and a corresponding series of sprocket-wheels 21 are mounted on the driven shaft, diminishing in diameter from left to right, and the corresponding gears constituting each pair are connected by a sprocketchain 22. Herein I show four pairs of sprocket-wheels, making nine wheels in all upon each shaft. The number, however, of these wheels is merely a matter of choice. Each of said wheels 17, 18, 20, and 21 is provided with a ball-groove 23, centrally located within the hub and extending only partially around the inner surface of the hub as, for example, to the extent shown in Fig. 5although the exact extent of that groove is a matter of choice. These grooves are designed to receive clutch-balls 25, and the depth of the grooves is preferably about the same as the radius of the balls and the width of the grooves about the sameas the diameter of the balls.

I provide a series of round holes 26 in the shafts 13 and 1 1, one registering with each groove 23 in each wheel. The diameter of the hole is substantially the same as the width of the groove and the diameter of the ball, so that the ball, however, can move freely in said hole. The depth of the hole 26 should be greater than the diameter of the balls, so that the balls can drop away from the wheels into the holes and out of contact with the wheels.

' It is obvious that when any ball is held out in the groove in the hub of the wheel, as shown in Fig. 5, half of it will be in engagement with the wheel and half with the shaft, so that the wheel will be clutched into engagement with the shaft and the shaft will be rotated thereby. In the case of the driving-shaft and in the case of the driven shaft 14: the wheels will be actuated by the shaft. It is necessary that something be provided to force the ball or balls desired into clutching engagement with the wheels. This is herein shown as accomplished by a sliding key 30. It is mounted within the shaft and movable under or behind the balls, so as to force them outward. While this object may be accomplished in different ways, I have shown herein acompound shaft formed of an outer tubular portion and an inner solid rod-like portion 31. The two parts, however, mechanically constitute but a single shaft, as they rotate and work together and are made in compound form merely for convenience in construction. The holes 26 extend through the outer tubular portion of the shaft to the inner member 31. The key 30 is made longitudinally slidable in the inner member 31 of the shaft, as seen in Fig. 5, said inner member 31 being provided with a longitudinal groove 32, that registers with all the holes 26. Likewise a groove 33 is formed within the outer member of the shaft corresponding with the groove 32, because the key operates within said two grooves 32 and 33, they registering with each other. The key is inclined at its inner end, so that it will run under a ball and push it outward. Said key has an extension 35 sufficient to force one ball outward into engagement with the hub of the wheel corresponding with the ball, as seen in Figs. 3, 4E, and 5. Therefore as the key is moved along it will force one ball after the other successively into engagement with its corresponding wheel. If one wishes to clutch a certain wheel, he moves the key so as to bring the extension 35 under the ball corresponding with that wheel. No other ball will be held in engagement with a wheel, so that only one wheel will be clutched by the operation of the key. Since the extension 35 is not long, it may be moved to a point between the wheels where it will hold no ball in clutching engagement with a wheel.

The means devised by me for operatingthe keys 30 is shown in Figs. 1 and 2. It is there seen the inner portions 31 of the shafts extend beyond the casing 12 and have hearings in the hanger 55. A key-shifter frame 36 is slidably mounted on the members 31 of the shafts, and said frame is connected with the keys 30, so that the movement of the frame will move the keys, and a single frame will move both keys simultaneously and to the same extent. A shifter-lever 37 is pivotally connected with said shifter-frame 36 by means of a pin 38 of the latter extending through a slot 39 of said lever. Said lever at its lower end has a handle and at its upper end is pivotally connected with the hanger-frame 11 by reason of the pin 40 from said hanger-frame extending through slots 41 in the yoked upper end of said lever. Itis thus seen that the operation of the lever 37 will cause a simultaneous movement of the keys 30, so as to bring the extensions 35 of both keys in valinement with both of the balls associated with a given pair of wheels. In order to know how to locate the lever 37 that any desired pair of wheels may be clutched and also to hold the lever 37 in its adjusted position, agear-index 4.3 is provided consisting of a bar with one end secured to the casing 12 and the other to the hanger 55, provided with notches 14 in its upper side, one notch for each pair of wheels and at the desired distances apart, said notches being adapted to receive the pin 45 from the lever 37 and hold the same. Therefore, as seen in Fig. 1, when the lever is placed with the pin 15 in the sixth notch from the left the sixth pair of wheels from the left will be clutched into operation.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination of a shaft having a plurality of ball-holes in the surface thereof, a ball fitting loosely in each hole, the holes being so deep that the balls need not extend beyond the periphery of the shaft, a key longitudinally movable in said shaft behind said balls to force the same outward, and Wheels mounted on the shaft, the hub of each wheel covering a ball-hole.

2. The combination of a shaft having a plurality of ball-holes in the surface thereof, a ball fitting loosely in each hole, the holes being so deep that the balls need not extend beyond the periphery of the shaft, a key longitudinally movable in said shaft behind said balls to force the same outward, and wheels mounted on the shaft, each of said wheels being provided with a circumferential groove in the internal periphery of the hub thereof that registers with the ball-hole in said shaft.

3. The combination with a shaft, of a plurality of radially-extending ball-holes, balls in said holes, Wheels on the shaft with hubs registering with the ball-holes, a key movable longitudinally of said shaft for forcing the balls outward, and an extension on said key of such size as to force only a single ball at a time into engagement with the wheel.

4. The combination of a compound shaft consisting of an outer hollow member and an inner member, ball-holes extending through the outer member to the inner member, a passage-way extending longitudinally through between said shaft members, a key slidable in said passage-way, balls in said ball-holes, and Wheels mounted on said shaft with their hubs registering with said ball-holes.

5. The combination of two parallel shafts, both shafts being provided with corresponding ball-holes, wheels mounted on both shafts that register with the ball-holes, balls in said ball-holes, a key movable in each shaft for forcing the corresponding balls outward into engagement with the corresponding wheels, and a single means for operating the keys in both shafts.

6. The combination of two parallel compound shafts, each shaft consisting of an outer hollow member and of an inner member, the inner members extending laterally beyond the hollow members, ball-holes in the outer member of each shaft, power-transmitting wheels on each shaft registering with the ball-holes, a key movable longitudinally in each shaft between the members thereof and behind the balls so as to move them outward singly into engagement with the wheels, a shifting frame slidably mounted on the extended portion of said shafts which frame is connected with the outer end of said keys, and means for shifting said frame.

7. The combination with a shaft, of a number of power-transmitting wheels mounted thereon, individual means for clutching each wheel into engagement with the shaft, a key movably mounted in connection With the shaft for controlling said clutching means, a shifter for actuating said key, and an index-bar with a notch in it for each wheel to indicate the position of the key-shifter necessary to clutch any desired wheel into operation and hold said shifter in place.

8. The combination of two parallel shafts, one a driving and the other a driven shaft, a set of gear-wheels mounted on each shaft and meshing with each other in pairs and arranged to produce different speeds, a set of Wheels mounted on said shafts arranged in pairs out of touch with each other, a chain on each pair of said wheels, said latter wheels being arranged so as to produce varying speeds and to drive the driven shaft in a direction opposite to that of said gear-wheels, individual means for clutching each Wheel on one of said shafts into operative engagement therewith, and means for moving any desired one of said clutching means into an operative position.

In witness whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature in the presence of the witnesses herein named.

WALLACE MARSHALL;

Witnesses:

FRANK GILMAN, I FRANK HANNA. 

